Cliff Richard - Back from the Wilderness Singles and Albums 1975 - 1995

In the US, the album omitted "Cities May Fall" and "My Luck Won't Change"...ours is a 10 track album instead of twelve. Our single of "We Don't Talk Anymore" is also edited to 3:40 (instead of the 4:11).

 

Thanks for the info. I forget to include some of the facts, and then it´s good to be informed.
The edited version of "WE DONT TALK ANYMORE" was also released in the UK, ut only as a promo, not a general release.

 

By the time this album was released I'd begun working and had a bit more disposable income. I'd could (almost) have as many records as I liked! I bought Rock 'n Roll Juvenile in the first week of it's release. This was my second Cliff album and I was spurred on by how much I liked Green Light, the first, and the We Don't Talk Anymore single.

I took to it instantly, even though WDTA differed from the rest of the tracks by quite a wide margin. This was nicely explained by Cliff in the sleevenotes. 37 years later, I have to say this has to be my most played Cliff LP. It's strong throughout, but at least 5 of the songs are amongst his best ever for me. There's a sense of fun and spontaneity about this record that wasn't always evident in Cliff's work. You get the feeling that everyone involved had a whale of a time making this LP. I never cared for B.A. Robertson as a solo artist. I didn't like any of his records and he came across as a complete tool, but his quirky lyrics work for Cliff here. Hot Shot, even then too young for Cliff, makes it's mark. Just not as a single. Cities May Fall and Sci-Fi have Cliff tackling subjects new to him and he pulled them off superbly. Just starting work myself at this time, Monday Thru' Friday rang true as well.

There isn't really a bad song on RNRJ. I'm less fond of Language Of Love and My Luck Won't Change, but I think it's just because the rest of the record is so good. I have to agree with others who lauded the title track. It's a great Cliff composition and deserves it's place on the album and as the title of it. The album makes Cliff sound fresh, and some of the songs are as close to New Wave as he ever got.

Cliff never made an album like RNRJ again. A shame, but given the back story I suppose this team was never going to reunite in a hurry. The successor to this, I'm No Hero, was a much smoother record and clearly based on the We Don't Talk Anymore format. I love it, but RNRJ is just more fun to play. It even has a couple of career songs for Cliff in it's midst. If you don't have this album, you should certainly rectify that. The original CD sounds best, but the remaster is fine as long as you don't blast it and comes with a couple of bonus tracks too.

I was never fond of the album cover. It looks cheap and is another case of Cliff being literal. The US version has a better picture of Cliff but looks like a budget compilation for some reason. I suppose, for me, neither territory got the sleeve right, but when the music is this good it doesn't matter that much.

 

Did Cliff every comment on George Harrison's~ All Things Must Pass, and "It's Johnny's Birthday aka Congratulations ?

 

Spot on about BA Robertson.

 

Yep, "Tiny Planet" is on the same musical lines. Haven't played it for a while. On hols for a week tomorrow so maybe I'll dig it out and take with me, along with Cliff's next couple of albums, so I'll be up on all the postings!

 

Amen! Sometimes I love you, Bobby! (Not only Cliff can be too literal...)

I love your enthusiasm for the album - it matches mine! And I agree - there are some less good songs, but no bad ones. Has to be a first for a Cliff album.

And yes again - this is an album I return to over and over again, and it never disappoints.

 

It´s a slight, but fun song!

 

I don´t agree... I like his solo albums. Silly, but creative. (But I prefer not to see him.)

 

No! Not a Saturday matinee idol.

 

Very sorry, but I do. Pretty, he ain´t. (One more thing we´ve got in common.) But he is creative, and he´s written some great songs. So there!

 

This is a song that would have been at home on I'm Nearly Famous or Every Face Tells A Story.

 

Yes, and bizarrely enough I think it would have been a side two track on the LP! Just sounds that way to me.

 

Good hitmaker in his strength.

 

Here´s a clip from the 1992 "ACCESS ALL AREAS" tour. Cliff performs "MONDAY THRU FRIDAY". Turn up the volume!

 

Here´s a medley of album title tracks. A surprisingly good idea. From the 2006 "HERE & NOW" concert.

 

"SCI-FI" live from "The Countdown Concert".

 

B.A. Robertson´s own take on two Cliff classics - "LANGUAGE OF LOVE" and "HOT SHOT". I would say Cliff has the better vocal delivery.

 

And finally, for now: B.A. Robertson does "SCI-FI", the B-side to his single "Knocked It Off".

 

I see those three recordings more as demos for the definitive versions. They have their own quirky charms - I know you don´t agree! - but Cliff´s versions remain the versions to me. His voice is just so much better than B.A.´s. There may be some details in the arrangements that are different - and potentially fun - but nothing major. I do feel that B.A.´s own versions of the songs are closer to the new wave sound than Cliff´s were. Perhaps that was a good thing?

 

Thanks for posting these clips. Never heard them before. I think the two live versions had B.A. Robertson slightly out of tune!
Good to hear songs sung by the co - writer, but not a touch on Cliff's!

 

Nope. I liked hearing them - I mean, I had the singles a long while back, but I think I played them once and then archived them. There is no comparison, really - Cliff comes out the winner.

 

Its funny that a few pages back I said Cliff never jumped on the Glam bandwagon of the early 70's, but here he is years later looking like Barry Blue or similar.

 

Perhaps Barry sold some of his old clothes off.

 

Good call!